


All The Help He Can Get

by Roiwiez



Series: Path to Forgiveness [4]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Brief mentions of other characters - Freeform, Canon-Typical Violence, DMC3 And DMC4 Weapons, Gen, Original Moves, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roiwiez/pseuds/Roiwiez
Summary: Vergil makes a surprise visit to the Devil May Cry, demanding that Dante return what belongs to him.  When Dante reveals that he's empty handed, they set off to Red Grave together to recollect some old tools and to catch up.A small one off in my DMC series.
Relationships: Dante & Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Series: Path to Forgiveness [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928215
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	All The Help He Can Get

Dante crashed down hard onto his chair and practically deflated into it. Maybe taking a year off work was not the brightest idea, he was going to go insane with boredom at this point. Didn’t help that the girls were taking all the good jobs for themselves.

Morrison, that traitor, was left clear instructions for what to do with this place if he was absent for whatever reason, but clearly the girls offered him a better deal. In a bizarre twist of fate, they called the shots now and had majority ownership of the shop. He will admit the place has never looked nicer, there weren't any funny stains in the carpet, no lingering smell that never went away, and the lights haven’t been shut off this month! It was a place where clients actually wanted to visit and stay in as they discussed business, but it lacked the charm the old shop had.

Dante leaned back and kicked up his feet, groaning into the air. Since the girls were the bosses now, they had remodeled the shop to accommodate them. His old desk and everything on it had been haphazardly shoved into the back to make room for the massive joint desk that took its place. They _did_ leave his safe untouched, they were bitter about the whole ‘leaving everyone without a warning’ thing but they still respected his privacy.

Since he got back, he had to play by their rules now. First order of business was paying off his long standing debts to the both of them. Second order was to learn how to budget. It was a miracle that Morrison even let him keep this place with how often he forgot to pay the rent. First came the warnings, then the final warnings, then the ‘we’re serious this is the last time warnings’, but he always managed to just barely scrape by. The girls proved that they were able to not only keep the lights on, but they were able to make the place thrive on the same paychecks he was getting.

That meant no new jackets.

He felt naked without the heavy weight over his shoulders and the smell of leather following him everywhere he went, but damn the things were expensive. He worked with Lady and Trish to at least try to salvage what was left from his old one, but there was no saving it. A whole year soaking in blood, guts, and whatever else they had to trudge through in hell made the once priceless leather jacket a breeding ground for god knows what kind of diseases.

He wept a single tear as Lady torched it in the streets, saving the world from some demon born pathogen which would no doubt form if given the chance.

Lady and Trish were out now, taking on the high priority jobs Morrison sent their way, leaving him with smaller tasks to take up at a fraction of the pay they were receiving. This was _supposed_ to get him out of the office more often on smaller errands, but he couldn’t muster up the effort needed to stomp out a couple demons haunting a stretch of woods. He was spoiled by the massive demon invasions and the endless hordes charging him in hell, if there weren't at least a hundred demons to take out, he wasn’t interested.

Right about now though, he’s looking for anything to get him out of the office, he just needs someone, _anyone_ to reach out and offer him something to do.

His wish is granted as a large hole rips open in the middle of the building, plunging it into darkness.

It startled Dante so bad that he fell backwards in his chair and bashed his head against the wall as the lights flickered and all the warmth in the room was replaced with frigid cold. Rubbing the already growing bump on the back of his head, Dante reaches down for one of his guns and pushes himself up from behind the desk, ready to open fire at whoever just intruded into his shop,

To find Vergil and a quickly dissipating portal closing behind him.

“Good afternoon Dante.” His brother greets him as the room settles back into a decent temperature and the lights stop flickering.

“You know the front door is always unlocked right?” Dante sighs as he returns his pistol to his holder and continues to rub at the tender spot in his head.

“I like to make an entrance.” Vergil hums as his gaze wanders the new shop. “I’m sure you would do the same were you able to-!” Dante shuts him up by tricking right up to him and closing his arms around his big brother in a crushing embrace. Vergil’s words were strangled in his throat and Dante makes a mental note to try this more often. The Darkslayer could use a hug every now and then, even if they went against the brooding swordsman persona he tried to maintain.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you.” Dante says when Vergil finally manages to peel him off. “I can grab my stuff and get out of here in less than a minute! Where are we running off to? You ready to settle some scores? I got a good spot picked out just ou-” Vergil holds a hand out to silence him.

“And you taunt me for acting like an excited puppy whenever I’m offered a fight.” Vergil scoffs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m afraid my trip here is a short one, I have work to get back to elsewhere.”

“Aw come on!” Dante throws his hands up in frustration. “The one time I actually ask for a fight and you’re _too busy_? Who are you and what have you done with the real Vergil?!” Vergil doesn’t budge under Dante’s relentless whining, there was no time for foolishness. “Why did you even come here if you’re not looking to lose your lead in our competition?”

“Pfft, as if I’d… No.” Vergil shakes his head and corrects his path. “I’m here because you have a couple of items that rightfully belong to me. I want them back. Give them to me.” Vergil holds out his hand expectantly, waiting for Dante to comply.

“Did I lose a bet I don’t remember?” Dante scratches his head, wincing when he grazes the welt on the back of his head. “If you’re looking for a handout, I’m afraid Lady’s completely cut me off from the company's funds.”

“My amulet.” With those two words, all the fight in Dante fizzles out. Dante rarely ever wore his anymore, the memories associated with it were too painful. He had locked it away in his safe along with Vergil’s half after Mallet Island, along with some other painful heirlooms. He supposes the memories associated with the amulet, while still present, weren’t entirely debilitating anymore now that he knew his brother was back.

Come to think of it, most of the things in the safe shouldn’t hurt as much anymore.

“Alright then.” Dante turns to return to his desk and the safe pressed against the wall behind it. Kneeling down, Dante fumbles with the tumbler for a while until the safe opens, Vergil steps forward to peek at what’s inside.

Inside the safe are their two amulets, combined and resting near the front. Resting nearby is a single fingerless glove, a large bloodied gash cut across the palm. Pressed further in the back is an old gold coin, a copy of the photo of Eva Dante kept on his desk, and a few other small trinkets Dante had collected over the years. Vergil’s eyes wander over to the top of Dante’s desk to avoid the safe. He kept most of his personal matters private, he shouldn't be privy to Dante’s past if he wants it locked away.

Taking the amulet from the safe, Dante clicks the two halves apart and hands his brother’s half over. Vergil takes his half and stares down at it for a stretch of time. Dante isn’t sure what’s going on in his brother's head, Vergil neither smiles or frowns at the heirloom in his hand, he simply stares at it with a look of complete neutrality.

“Thank you, Dante.” Vergil eventually bows his head and moves to settle the amulet around his neck. He doesn’t seem too pleased to have it back, and Dante can guess why. He always found it strange how he was allowed to keep it while under Mundus’ control. Clearly, he has some trauma associated with his half of the amulet as well.

“It belongs to a son of Sparda.” Dante mimics, donning his own half of the amulet. “Wouldn’t be right to keep it from you.” Vergil gives him a curt nod and an affirmative grunt. “So was that all you came for, or is there something else you needed?”

“Beowulf.”

“Huh?” Dante had knelt down to put his chair back upright, not actually expecting anything else from Vergil.

“I want Beowulf back.” Vergil repeats again, putting his hand out once more. “I claimed it by right of combat, you took it from me at Temen Ni Gru, return it!”

“Yeah… About that…” Dante’s mind begins to short out as he desperately tries to find a way to get away from this topic. “Wh- oh! Why do you even want it back?” Dante asks. “It’s not like I pulled it off your hands, you tossed them out when you couldn’t beat me with them!”

“Hmm.” Vergil lets out a sharp exhale through his nose as he shakes his head. “I’ve been pondering over our various battles in hell and came to the conclusion that I can’t beat you with Yamato alone. You have such a variety of weapons in your arsenal, the moment I master my defenses against one, you reveal two more to overwhelm me. I’m getting too predictable, Beowulf will provide me with the variety I need in my fights.”

“Well if you’re looking for variety, why not get yourself a gun!” Dante counters, still trying to get away from the topic of Beowulf. “You’ve built yourself up as this legendary swordsman, pulling a gun in the middle of a fight would be the most unpredictable thing you could do. Come on, Lady’s got a rifle she’s not using anymore, you can have that one!”

“Dante!” Vergil scoffs. He toys with the idea of him wielding a long range rifle for a moment, but _only_ for a moment. He can barely imagine himself wielding something so cowardly and unruly as a rifle, he’ll stick to close quarters thank you. “I don’t want your hand me downs, I want Beowulf.”

“Well then I can’t help you!” Dante groans in frustration. “I don’t have it anymore!”

“What do you mean you don’t have it?” Vergil’s brow furrows in irritation.

“I pawned it off years ago to help pay for this shop!” Dante finally admits. “Temen Ni Gru knocked my place down in Red Grave, I needed money to buy a new place that wasn’t nothing but rubble!”

“You sold Beowulf?! You traded _my_ devil arm for pocket change?!” Any semblance of cool and calm in Vergil had completely disappeared after learning of the fate of his weapon. “Who would even buy something like a devil arm?! Do one of your coworkers have it? Some other devil hunter?”

“I sold it…” Dante puts his hands up to try and calm his brother down. “To a collector in Red Grave.” Dante keeps his hands up as Vergil grows even more impatient to allow himself to further explain himself. “He bought lots of fancy swords and armors and was willing to pay good money for what he believed were ancient gauntlets belonging to an old king.”

“So you pawned off _my_ Beowulf, a demonic weapon which could be dangerous in the hands of a mortal man, under false pretenses by lying to him about what you were selling.” Vergil lists off.

“Well when you put it that way.” Dante shrugs, but Vergil turns his back on him before he can defend himself further. “Aw come on man, I needed the money!” Vergil draws Yamato and tears open another portal in the middle of the shop. “Where are you going now?!”

“Red Grave.” Vergil states, before turning around and pointing his blade at Dante. “And you’re coming with me!”

“Really?!” Dante lights up.

“I’m getting Beowulf back, and you’re going to show me where you left it.” Vergil orders, beckoning him to follow.

“Say no more!” Vergil’s visit turned out to be a blessing in disguise! No one would yell at him for spending some quality time with his brother, and if they were on their way to Red Grave they were bound to run into some trouble. Vergil seems confused by his sudden shift in mood but elects to ignore it, Dante’s being cooperative at least. Together, the brothers step through the threshold of the portal and leave the shop empty behind them.

Stepping out into the ruins of Red Grave, Dante is taken aback by just how… dead the place looked. Fortuna, even while being extremely isolated, managed to make an almost full recovery after Mundus laid siege to it. Red Grave on the other hand looked just as devastated and broken as he remembered it from a year ago. The qliphoth and roots that dominated the skyline are all gone now, the cause for all of this destruction now lost in the wind. With no smoke or evil towers obscuring the sky, the clear blue sky above them contrasted heavily against the bleak soot covered city below it.

“Lead the way.” Vergil orders, keeping a hand on his sheath. Dante follows suit and lets his hands over around his belt as he begins to walk down the street. The portals to hell had been closed off when they cut the source of its power, but even a year after it grew there would be stragglers.

Lady and Trish had made some progress in retaking parts of the city and other nearby locations. Dante had also heard plenty of stories about other demon hunters who had joined the fray. Red Grave wasn’t a secluded island where all of this could be swept away, and with the city still infested with demons, many had taken up arms to do their part in clearing it out.

Him and the girls both agreed that they really shouldn’t stick their necks out too much, let the professionals handle it. Besides, some of these guys actually had some guts, and they were cutting in on jobs that could have gone to _him_.

As they walk across the dilapidated streets of town, something catches Dante’s eyes. “Before we go any further, we’re making a pit stop.” Breaking off from the main road, Dante makes a beeline for an abandoned tailor shop. The chill in the air was getting to him, he was going to get himself a jacket damn it.

“How long will this little detour take?” Vergil grumbles as he follows close behind.

“Probably not long.” Dante admits with a sigh. “It’s not like anyone’s around to actually take measurements or anythin…” Dante’s words fizzle out as he spots bright crimson red on display within the store. Rushing inside, he finds something that will be perfect until he can get a new coat made.

A crimson red suit coat.

It wasn’t the heavy leather he was comfortable with, but he needed something. He had appearances to keep up and he couldn’t do that without a red coat. Vergil watches in bemusement as Dante rips the suit from its display and tries to slide it on.

“What do ya think?” Dante strikes a pose at his brother. He hadn’t spent much time dressing himself that morning and only wore a graphic tee and leather pants before stepping outside. He wasn’t dressed formerly in the slightest, and the red coat probably looked silly on him. Judging from the displeased look on Vergil’s face, Dante guesses his assumptions are correct.

“It’s not fitted properly, you look like a child wearing his father’s clothes.” Vergil comments dismissively. “It also matches absolutely nothing else you’re wearing.” Dante hangs his head low in disappointment. “Put effort into it however, and I’d say a red suit would look better than the leather you typically wear.”

“So you do like it!” Dante cheers and pumps his fist in the air, tearing a hole in the pit of the suit.

“I like the idea.” Vergil corrects, breaking into a smirk at the sight of the tear. “Throwing on a dust covered suit you found in a ruin doesn’t look good at all.” Vergil’s eyes scan the dark corners of the building, searching for any stalkers who may be hiding in the shadows. “If you’re done here, I’d like to keep moving. We’re wasting precious time.” Vergil turns around and steps outside, forcing Dante to leave the tailor shop behind to keep up.

“You know, you never said what you were up to.” Dante mentions as he takes the lead again, tugging at his sleeves and trying to get rid of the wrinkles in his suit. “After that little reunion party at Nero’s, you just kinda went quiet for a few weeks. What’s got you so uppity?”

“You’ll learn soon enough.” Vergil states.

“No no, I want to hear what’s going on.” Dante stops in his tracks and spins on his heels to face Vergil. “What twisted schemes are being plotted in that noggin of yours this time, brother?” Dante attempts to drill his index finger into his brother's forehead but Vergil swiftly bats his arm away.

“Can’t you just trust that I have everyone’s best intentions in mind?” Vergil asks.

“No! Not really!” Dante counters. “Are you looking at this place?!” Dante throws his arms wide and gestures to the ruins surrounding them. “You don’t exactly have the cleanest track record so sorry if I don’t exactly trust you aren’t going to blow up another city if you disappear for another year! I made a promise, I don’t intend to break it for your sake.”

“As I said, you’ll learn your part soon enou-” A shadow passes overhead and Vergil retaliates before whatever cast it gets a chance to swoop down for him. Releasing three summoned swords as he throws his arm out behind him, Vergil turns to see his projectiles sink into the leathery wings of a hellbat as it plummets to the floor.

“All right, here we go!” Dante draws his own sword and presses his back against Vergil’s. “And hey, don’t you think this means you get to weasel out of that explanation!” The street is quickly overrun with demons who begin crawling in from the rubble and upturned earth. Vergil is determined to erase these distractions from the world, but comes up with a proposal that might get Dante off his back.

“How about this,” He offers. “Whoever kills more out of this group wins. If I win, then you’ll wait for your explanation. If you win, I’ll tell you everything. Deal?”

“Starting now?”

“Of course not.” Vergil chuckles. “With that bat, I’m already in the lead.”

“Then I guess I better get busy!” Dante pushes off of his brother, sword extended as far as he can to stab at a charging hell caina. They’ve had games like this with dozens of ambushing demon hordes and Dante had developed a technique that almost always allowed him to win these tournaments; the age old, little brother tradition of kill stealing.

He used to pick on just the weaker ones that were easy to confirm, but Vergil had little trouble taking out the bigger guys at the same pace. His best bet was to trick in and finish off his targets before he got the chance, making him do all of the work before claiming the point for himself. He had gotten into plenty of arguments over it with him, but it was his fault for not adapting to the ruleset like he did.

Besides, he _needed_ to know what his big bro was up to. He’ll play as dirty as he has to to win this.

Kicking the demon off of the length of his blade, Dante rushes forward to strike hard and fast against some of the smaller cannon fodder in front of him to get an early lead. He doesn’t bother with dragging any of his fights out, each swing is devastating and concise, allowing him to move onto his next target as fast as possible. Fighting like this wasn’t nearly as fun, but he had to get serious if he wanted to beat his brother.

Dante manages to secure five kills for himself before he decides to make some moves against Vergil’s own targets. Drawing his guns and spraying wildly, he buys himself a few seconds of time as the demons in front of him scatter for cover to survey Vergil’s half of the battlefield.

His heart sinks when he sees Vergil’s got a solid lead on him.

Vergil’s always focused on quick and clean kills, but with Yamato alone he struggled to keep up with the rampant destruction Dante could dish out.

Strange thing is, Vergil isn’t even using Yamato, and he’s still winning.

Yamato still remains sheathed at his hip, and in each of his hands are what appear to be scaled up summoned swords. In his left hand was what looked like a massive version of his normal summon swords, which now that he can see it in detail without it trying to pierce his heart, it takes the form of the Force Edge. In his right hand is what appears to be a summoned sword version of Yamato.

A Chaos lurches towards him with a spin. Vergil quickly sidesteps the massive form of the demon and in the same fluid motion drops the summoned Edge from his hands and kicks the pommel, sending the blade torpedoing through the air and sinking into the exposed flesh of the chaos as it tries to turn and readjust its aim. When the massive blade pierces its underbelly, the Chaos swerves out of control and unfurls itself in the air, trying to stop its momentum to pull it out. Now that Vergil had a free hand, rather than charging forward with his summoned Yamato, he instead summoned something new - a sheath for the summoned Yamato. Placing the spectral blade into the spectral sheath, Vergil performs a judgement cut on the Chaos before it has a chance to hit the ground, dicing it in mid air and freeing his other sword which he charges forward to grab out of the air before it hits the ground.

All while the real Yamato lie safely in its sheath, completely untouched.

Dante was so absorbed in watching his brother fight that he forgot he was supposed to be stealing those kills for himself. He shakes himself out of his daze and rushes forward in desperation, trying hopelessly to catch up, but he was far too late. By the time things had wrapped up, he had only managed to take down three more demons, putting his total at eight.

Vergil had taken out fifteen.

“You’re getting sloppy Dante.” Vergil chuffs as he drives both of his swords into the ground, shattering the both of them and leaving his arms free to be crossed in disappointment. “You didn’t even break double digits that time. Did you really let yourself go in only the span of a month?”

“What the hell did you just do?!” Dante demands, gesturing at the dissipating blue shards of energy that remains from Vergil’s summoned swords. “I have never seen one of your swords get bigger than my forearm, when did you learn to do that?!”

“It’s a little trick I learned from Nero.” Vergil beams, extending his arm and summoning another copy of the Yamato against Dante’s neck. “He mastered a similar technique, I simply adapted my own skills to mimic his own. It’s very similar to my doppelganger, I just simply summon its sword and leave the doppelganger itself behind.” Vergil flips the blade in his hand and catches it by the blade, offering the grip to Dante to allow him to swing it around. Dante takes it from him and looks down at the shimmering blue blade.

“So you cheated!” Dante points the blade at his brother.

“What?”

“No doppelgangers! That’s the rule!” Dante explains. “We settled this ages ago, it’s not fair if there’s two of you racking up points and only one of me! That means I win!”

“Are you daft?!” Vergil spats back. “I just finished explaining that I’m only summoning my doppelganger's sword, not the doppelganger itself. What I did was well within the rules!”

“Nope!” Dante shakes his head. “Still counts as outside help. I win by default. Now come on, spill it!”

“I will tell you nothing!” Vergil hisses back. “I won, I will not let you cry your way out of this loss Dante.” Vergil shoves Dante aside to keep moving down the street, but pauses after a moment, a smirk creeping into his lips. “Though if you insist, I can guarantee you that I can win again without my summoned swords.”

“So what, this round didn’t count?!” Dante balked.

“Afraid you’ll lose again?” Vergil challenges. “Even with my ‘handicap’?” Vergil knew for a fact that Dante would never admit that. Dante _should_ be angry with this turn of events, but he now had a second chance, one he wasn’t going to waste.

“Next batch we find, I’ll crush you!” Dante promises. “And I’ll be watching this time, no funny stuff!”

“Then it’s agreed.” Vergil nods. “Now, lead the way.”

\---

Dante didn’t win their second bout. While Dante’s been settling in and cleaning out a space for himself in the renewed shop, Vergil must have been busy. He really should have figured as much, the man refused to stay still. Even after a whole year in hell, he’s still practicing and training, striving to get better than him.

Guess he was losing his touch because he’s completely beat and Vergil hadn’t broken a sweat. He had to start busting ass if he was going to climb back to his level, something he thinks might actually be possible. Since he lost the bet, Vergil isn’t going to talk, but Dante can still deduce that whatever he was up to was gonna be big. He’ll be spending weeks cooped up in libraries and tombs doing research, giving Dante plenty of time to bet back into the swing of things and take things more seriously.

He wasn’t going to slack either, he had a responsibility to step in if things go wrong. He doesn’t know what Vergil’s planning, but he’s hoping the fact he was willing to tell him everything over a simple competition proves it isn’t something he should be worried about. Vergil should know better by now, but he’s still the stubborn jackass he knew as a kid, the same one who turned this city to rubble twice for his own gain.

Marching through the streets of Red Grave, Dante eventually found the place he was looking for. Kicking down the remains of the front door, Dante ushers Vergil inside with an exaggerated bow. Vergil pays him no mind as he steps into the ruins of an old collectors shop.

Entering the dilapidated storefront, Vergil got the impression that everything in this building would be covered in a thick layer of dust regardless of the destruction outside. Dangling from the walls were old oil paintings falling out of their frames and various swords ranging from cheap imitations to very real but worn weapons. Scanning the broken display cases, shrunken heads, old bones and strange nick knacks were being sold for ludicrous prices. Vergil did eye the overturned bookshelf with interest. He doubted there would be anything useful in an old shop like this, but if Dante had managed to sell a devil arm to this shop, there was a very real chance someone could have pawned off a tome of occult knowledge as well.

But it was the furthest displays that caught Vergil’s attention.

On the far wall of the shop, mostly untouched by the devastation from outside, were various displays featuring suits of armor and weapons. The collection was rather impressive, but that’s not what made him take interest.

It was the devil arms.

Placed in a locked display and priced at a fortune were his gauntlets, Beowulf. What shocked him though was the fact that Beowulf wasn’t the only thing on display. There were almost a dozen other demonic artifacts here, ranging from other demonic gauntlets, to twin curved swords, to a pair of nunchucks. Some of these were new to him, but he was able to identify many weapons Dante had once used while climbing Temen Ni Gru.

“You sold _all_ of your devil arms?!” Vergil swerves around to look at Dante, who’s been busying himself by looking over all of the vinyl records on display.

“I only kept the essentials.” Dante explains, joining his brother's side at the display. “Not gonna lie though, I miss some of these babies.” Dante steps forward and takes the pair of curved swords off of the wall, twirling them around in his hands. “Maybe I can take these for a spin again. That, or sell them to a different shop to pay off Lady.”

“How irresponsible.” Vergil shakes his head in disgust.

“Says the deadbeat dad.” Dante is quick to counter.

“Says the deceitful uncle.” Vergil counters the counter. Dante can’t come up with anything to fight back against that. “Stringing the boy along for years without telling him anything. What possible excuse could you have for that, hmm?”

“Man…” Dante slumps his shoulders. “You really know how to cut deep, huh.”

“Every strike I make is decisive and deadly, you should know that by now.” Growing tired of the conversation, Vergil draws Yamato and slashes at the display carrying his Beowulf. The blade slips in between the groves and severs the lock from within, leaving it to be opened without finding the key. Lifting up the display, Vergil wastes no time sliding the gauntlets over his hands, reveling in the power humming up his arm as he does so.

“Let me guess, you wanna take it out for a test run?” Dante asks, preemptively breaking open another display and grabbing for the gauntlets of Gilgamesh.

“A tempting offer, but one I must refuse.” Vergil rejects. “I’ll practice on my own time. Today’s dragged on long enough.” Vergil refusing a sparring match? Ok, something is definitely going on!

“Come on, I know that’s bullshit!” Dante steps in front of Vergil before he has a chance to walk out of the shop. “What are you in such a hurry for? You don’t got time to try out your new toy?”

“If it will get you off my back, then I shall give you the simplest explanation.” Vergil finally submits. “I am preparing for a different fight, one that I need every advantage I can get to win. I don’t have time to fool around with you.” Dante tries to wrack his brain for what kind of fight his brother is walking into. He wasn’t going to point it out, but Vergil all but admitted that he doesn’t think he’s strong enough to win this fight without his new devil arms.

Quickly grabbing all of his stuff out of the displays, Dante rushes to follow Vergil out of the shop to find him cutting open another portal. Together, they step through and find themselves back inside of the Devil May Cry, though there is one new addition to the shop that wasn’t there when they left.

The smell of cigar smoke.

“Where the hell did you run off to?” Turning around, the brothers find Morrison halfway out the door.

“Running some errands with my brother.” Dante responds, quickly moving over to one of the couches to dump the armload of weapons he took from the shop. “Trust me, it was important business.” Morrison just steps back inside and crosses his arms, waiting for him to start speaking truthfully. “Look just don’t tell the girls.” Dante pleads. “I just stepped out for a couple hours, it’s not like I missed anything important.”

“I was seconds away from stepping out of here with a job offer.” Morrison grumbles. “And I won’t tell Trish and Lady if they don’t come asking me about it.” Taking his piercing gaze off of Dante, Morrison focuses on Vergil instead. “So you must be Vergil.”

“That is correct.” Vergil attempts to hold his breath to make it appear that Morrison’s smoke doesn’t bother him.

“Now, I’ve met a lot of shady characters in my time and have learned to stay away from the ones who are bad for business, but your brother has been talking an awful lot about how you’ve changed for the better. The kid hasn’t been able to stop talking either.”

“And?”

“Everyone nowadays is going for the next big gig, but that means this lazy ass won’t step foot out the door unless the job’s pulling in big money.” Morrison points his cigar at Dante. “Now I don’t know if asking you to do the smaller jobs is ‘unbecoming’ or some nonsense, but I would be willing to hire you on and get you a steady stream of cash if you’re interested.”

“What?!” Vergil turns to see what his brother is whining about now. “Hey wait a minute, I’m barely scraping by as it is! You can’t start handing out my jobs to him!”

“I’ve offered you the same clean up job in France four times now! If you wanted it you would have taken it!”

“Whatever!” Dante throws his arms up in disgrace. “Besides, Vergil’s _too busy_ to do anything anyways, so you’re just talking to a brick wall.”

“I might be interested.” Dante’s head snaps to his brother's direction as he speaks up. “I still have rent that needs to be paid. Having a steady stream of income will be necessary if I wish to continue my work.” Vergil turns to throw a glance to his brother and chuckles when he finds the demon hunter fuming with anger. “Besides, you seem quite knowledgeable of demons and their activities around the world. I trust you will be a greater source of knowledge than any dust covered tome I find in a library.”

“See.” Morrison leans over Vergil to point at Dante once again. “This guy gets it!” Morrison chuckles to himself and extends his hand to Vergil. “I look forward to seeing you work Vergil.” Vergil reaches out and shakes the brokers hands, sealing their partnership. “Send me your number and I’ll send you the details soon.”

“My number?” Vergil raises an eyebrow and Morrisons face falls.

“Oh hell no, don’t tell me you don’t have a cell phone on you either!” Vergil falls into an awkward silence at the question, refusing to answer it. “Fine, I’ll arrange to get you one.” Morrison grumbles as he pulls out a small note pad and a pen and begins jotting down some notes. “Get this job done well, and all expenses will be covered.”

“Then it’s settled then.” Vergil nods. “I must return home to finish some unsettled business, where shall I meet you to discuss this job?”

“Third Rail in Fortuna.” Morrison instructs. “Got business with the kid coming up. Think you can find it?”

“I’ll manage.” With their business concluded, Vergil walks into the center of the shop and slashes open another portal back home. Dante and Morrison watch as the Darkslayer vanishes past the threshold of the portal and the office goes quiet. Morrison and Dante stare at each other for a moment before Dante speaks up.

“I feel like I’m the punchline of some inside joke I’m not a part of.” He slumps down in his chair. “The girls are one thing, but everyone’s been on my ass recently.”

“You’ve been gone for the past year.” Morrison explains, crossing the length of the room to stand in front of Dante’s desk. “I wouldn’t call it a stretch to say that people simply forgot how scary you can be when you want to.” Reaching into his coat, Morrison pulls out a large manila envelope and slaps it down onto Dante’s desk.

“What’s this?”

“The big job you were waiting on.” Morrison explains. “Bunch of crazies nearby Red Grave are falling down the same path as those Order of the Sword goons, thinking the demons who invaded will lead them to salvation. Lady and Trish are still working in the town itself, leaving everything surrounding the town all for you.” Stepping back, Morrison puts out his cigar on the ashtray the girls had left out for him on their desk. “This is your chance to remind everyone that you’re _the_ legendary devil hunter.”

Leaving the office, Dante’s left to go over the mission report on his desk. With a brand new gig, a freshly wounded ego, and the looming threat of Vergil doing something stupid again has got Dante feeling motivated. No more laying around, it was time to get back to business.

First things first though, he’s gotta hide these old devil arms. He’s not gonna come up with a good explanation as to how he got them, and if the girls suspect anything they’ll buy the answers off of Morrison. Once that’s done though, then he’ll get back to business.

Also, maybe he could order something special for himself in celebration for the new job.

**Author's Note:**

> With Nero workshopping a new sword at home, Vergil with Beowulf back in his possession, and Dante geared up with all of his old weaponry, the devil hunters are preparing for something big. This was just a small filler chapter to properly gear everyone up for future events and to take the spotlight off of Vergil and Nero for a moment to give Dante some time to shine. I'm still hard at work on other personal projects, so hopefully this will hold you over until I get back to writing these full time again.
> 
> Seeing how these dumb fics I write in my spare time make people react is amazing, you guys are what makes writing these so fun!


End file.
